Indeed, in the current leftist
narrative, corrupt dictators, genocidal maniacs, and mafia-like regime emerge
as some kind of embattled heroic figures and entities fighting against the evil
West, and America per se, whose democracy, we are told, is really a sham, even
though, it’s exactly this sham that allows these “critical” voices to flourish,
unmolested by anyone.

The singular focus by
people like Noam Chomsky, and so many others on the international left, on
Western and American imperialism has prevented them from seeing that the
phenomenon itself is intrinsic to the nature of states and the way power has historically
been accumulated, concentrated and dispensed. All states, all human communities
in fact, from the time before the establishment of the first city states until
this very moment, have been inherently imperialistic. Indeed, every state today
is capable of imperialism, all it needs for that is a weak neighbor, and an
ambitious, and usually quite corrupt, ruler. Even today, imperialism has not
been something that only western powers get to do. In fact, others have been
far more involved in the matter.

But Western powers are the most
successful in this regard, and that’s the real problem it seems, not
imperialism itself. Western countries happen to be the most powerful, the most
organized, and the ones often in charge of the most influential international
institutions and corporations. They often don’t need to invade in order to
dominate and get what they want. For them to be hated and envied is
understandable.

But the fact that they are
democratic, while most of their rivals are vehemently anti-democratic and proud
of it, should give critics who believe in democracy some pause. Yes, generally
speaking, and for the sake of justice and democracy, it would be better for the
world if the global balance of power was not so skewed in favor of one side,
but that is so only if that balance was established between powers that are
equally committed to democratic values. Barring that, we are not dealing with
balance, but with a détente, where any loss by the West endangers the only way
of life that shows the slightest respect for human dignity.

The foreign policies of Western
governments merit our criticism for a variety of very legitimate reasons, but
this fact does not justify the practices and adventurisms of the West’s rivals,
nor their ways of life, which are more often based on repudiation of democracy
and the universality of human rights.

Realizing the ugliness of the
other side, Leftist critics often construct the comforting illusion that
completely dismisses the truth about the repressive nature of regimes like the
Assad’s and their crimes against their people. In fact, the Left here ends up
adopting the very arrogant attitude of the regimes vis-à-vis their peoples and
their dissidents. Thus, the people are often dismissed as rogue, uneducated and
extremist who are simply not ready for democracy, while the dissidents are
portrayed as willing agents of western powers, or naïve figures exploited by
them. Yes, the
Left is quite capable of racism, and that allows it to be duped by the
propaganda machines of those other imperialist forces out there still
struggling to get it right.

Just consider this little recent
development In Malmö, Sweden, where someone invited “the Islamic imam and
preacher Salman Al-Ouda, who has been described in the Swedish media as a
‘Salafist megastar,’ visited Malmö. Al-Ouda apparently inspired Osama bin
Laden, has claimed that the Holocaust was a myth, and is known for making
anti-Semitic statements.” But who invited such a figure to go speak in Malmö,
you may ask? Well, it was “a politician from the Green Party, currently part of
the Swedish government's ruling coalition, and which also governs in Malmö
locally, together with the Social Democrats.” Enough said.

1) The Fisk speaks of
a “Syrian army” when he should be speaking of sectarian militias and death
squads, which are mostly comprised of non-Syrian elements at this stage,
Afghan, Iraqi, Lebanese, Iranians and even Pakistanis,
and seem more
beholden to Tehran than Damascus.

2) When it comes to
genocidal maniacs, the Assad regime is by far the worst offender in Syria.
Furthermore, its role in the creation and empowerment of IS, and like-minded
groups, have been well-established by now by a variety of independent analysts.
Continuing to overlook these facts underscore the ideological agenda which Fisk
is serving. But yes, the U.S. is dropping its calls for Assad’s departure – an
about-face that should condemned not celebrated by anyone who claims to care
about human rights.

As talks reveal, both sides
prefer to miss out on the chance to kill each other in a more direct fashion,
opting to keep doing it by proxy in places like Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Slowly
but surely, Saudi and Iranian leaders are getting the hang of the way of Modern
Imperialism. Indirect mandate systems, war by proxy, mercenaries for hire,
manipulation of the prices of certain commodities, and keep all
blame on America and the West, even when they are the least involved, and ignore
threats issued by others, all others,
and their
potential victims. Hell, ignore even their
blatant racism. Only that found in the West is deplorable. This is how
modern imperialist warfare works.

A convoy of Soviet armored
vehicles crossed a bridge in Termez, at the Soviet-Afghan border, on May 21,
1988, during the withdrawal of the Soviet Army from Afghanistan. PHOTO: VITALY
ARMAND/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

The
Burial Ground

Russia’s
Long Road to the Middle East “Vladimir Putin’s intervention in Syria caught many by surprise, but
it is a return to Russian geopolitical aspirations that stretch back to the
czars.”

Well, it seems that we will have
to bury Putin and the Czars’ hopes and dreams in the Middle East next to ours.
For this is what the region seems destined to become for those whose definition
of glory still hinges more on militarism and ideology than development and
democracy. So, welcome back aspirant Russians, let’s just properly show you how
much we haven’t missed you.

Go ahead, patronize me!

About Ammar

Ammar Abdulhamid is a Syrian-American author and pro-democracy activist based in Silver Spring, Maryland. He is the founder of the Tharwa Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to democracy promotion. His personal website and entries from his older blogs can be accessed here.

The Delirica

The Delirica is a companion blog to the Daily Digest of Global Delirium meant to highlight certain DDGD items by publishing them as separate posts. Also, the Delirica republishes articles by Ammar that appeared on other sites since 2016. Older articles can be found on Ammar's internet archive: Ammar.World